Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 Goes 'Porn Mode'

[Teacher Mark 53]

Microsoft on Wednesday launched the eighth version of its omnipresent Internet Explorer browser, with a convenient adjustment that allows people to surf the web without leaving traces.

The InPrivate option of Internet Explorer 8–quickly dubbed “porn mode” because it also hides one’s illicit browsing history–prevents computers from tracking your online whereabouts or browsing habits, which is much-needed information for web sites that deliver targeted advertising.

The move could hurt Microsoft online advertising rival Google in its attempt to expand its display advertising business, according to analysts. Google moved into the display ad tracking business with its $3.2 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, which captures cookie data, in March.

Google has come under question for collecting a load of data from people using its search engine or email service, and if privacy concerns keeps growing, more people will hit the InPrivate button of Explorer 8.

“Privacy concerns relating to technology could damage Google's reputation and deter current and potential users from using its products and services,” Canaccord Adams analyst Wayne Chang wrote in a report.

The browser, which went into beta mode Wednesday, will soon be included with Microsoft’s operating system. As of July the software giant held 91 percent of the operating system market.

http://www.redherring.com/Home/24763

[Teacher Mark 53]

P.S. Firefox 3 rocks, after you get the kinks worked out. I had some problems after I downloaded it, but after 3 tries it appears to be stable now. Ironically enough it crashed the first time when I was about to post about how great it was. Here's a review of the major browsers available:

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/software/0,3902947...296021-1,00.htm

[MichelleN 0]

I'm having nothing but trouble with freaking Firefox 3. It'll randomly decide I won't have net access anymore. With no warning, pages will suddenly go into an endless "Looking for..." cycle. I can't even use IE to browse at that point. I have to close Firefox, enter Task Manager and end this one Firefox process that is lingering so that I can restart Firefox (it won't let me unless I end that process) and then my net will be working fine. Happens at least once a day, sometimes more.

[Teacher Mark 53]

I'm having nothing but trouble with freaking Firefox 3. It'll randomly decide I won't have net access anymore. With no warning, pages will suddenly go into an endless "Looking for..." cycle. I can't even use IE to browse at that point. I have to close Firefox, enter Task Manager and end this one Firefox process that is lingering so that I can restart Firefox (it won't let me unless I end that process) and then my net will be working fine. Happens at least once a day, sometimes more.

I'd delete it and try downloading again. I'm using IE8 (temporarily) now and it is better than it was before. I had to use the other version (7?) the other night when Firefox was giving me fits and it was just compounding the problem/frustration.

[Abby-Ron 8]

Im all Firefox, ever since Getfirefox was introduced, I havent used IE nor plan to use it. Besides, I net from Linux to Mac to PC and since Firefox is available in all these flavors, it suits my needs. I just remove all the "add-on's" as this slows the browser and sometimes crashes as it sometimes conflicts as these are just 3rd party programs...

[DeadPoolX 9]

I'm having nothing but trouble with freaking Firefox 3. It'll randomly decide I won't have net access anymore. With no warning, pages will suddenly go into an endless "Looking for..." cycle. I can't even use IE to browse at that point. I have to close Firefox, enter Task Manager and end this one Firefox process that is lingering so that I can restart Firefox (it won't let me unless I end that process) and then my net will be working fine. Happens at least once a day, sometimes more.

I'd delete it and try downloading again. I'm using IE8 (temporarily) now and it is better than it was before. I had to use the other version (7?) the other night when Firefox was giving me fits and it was just compounding the problem/frustration.

You mean "uninstall it," right? If you "delete it," you the registry keys will still remain. Some might linger even after an uninstall, but if you just delete the program, Windows won't know it's really gone; you'll merely be unable to access it anymore.

As for Firefox, I used to have a horrible time dealing with version 2. When FF3 was released, that worked really well for me, but in all honesty, I think it was the fault of bad extensions (or add-ons, as they're called now). A few error-prone add-ons can really screw up Firefox. You also need to be wary of what websites you visit as well. Just because FF is supposedly more secure, that doesn't mean it'll automatically protect you from viruses, trojans, spyware, adware and anything else. A good firewall and virus scanner will go a long way, plus common sense.

If, however, FF is really giving you a hard time no matter what you do, then try switching to Opera. I like it a lot more than Firefox and if it had the same add-on support that FF does, I'd switch in a heartbeat. Opera does have extra tools called widgets (which are something like add-ons), but the community that designs them is much smaller, simply because far fewer people use Opera than Firefox. Overall, I think Opera has many more useful features, one of which is the ability to mask itself as either Internet Explorer or Firefox, in the event a website has difficulty with the normal settings. It also loads much faster than IE or FF, which is a bonus in my book.

[trinket 30]

I love firefox, my only complain is that the new version of firefox isn't compatible with flv video downloader from real player. I love that extension, can save all the videos but now whenever I want to view a video, I have to switch to IE for the real player downloader to work. Hope firefox upgrades it soon.

[GiGii 4]

I'm allfor IE8! No one should know what i'm doing on the net, enough big brother watching!

I love google for searching, but hate that it recently submitted its history of "surfers" to the gov't, under subpoena.

[Teacher Mark 53]

You mean "uninstall it," right? If you "delete it," you the registry keys will still remain.

That's what I meant. Oops.